My first explain to this tragic incident was slab avalanche and escape down to woods to make fire and snow den. I have started to consider one of many possible explanations. One worth considering is splitted group (7 persons at the tent, Yuri Doroshenko and Yuri Krivonischenko go down to collect firewood), emergency in firewood collecting group, signaling emergency to tent and rescue mission from tent. That would explain:
1. Yuri Doroshenko's burned hair, gray foam on cheek, right armpit bruise, bite in the back of right palm, blood on ear, nose and lips
2. Cedar branches cut from the general direction of the tent
3. Zolotaryov's camera and pictures
4. Reason to leave tent
Possible reconstruction:
1. Dyatlov group encamp and two Yuris descent to collect firewood.
2. Yuris encounter emergency situation. Simplest possible emergency would be lost contact and exact direction to tent due to darkness and snowstorm, which cover their tracks back to tent.
3. They try to go back to tent, but without exact direction, lost track in deep snow.They became desperate and make fire. They try to contact tent group. Without flashlight only possible means is by fire.
4. There is no direct line of sight from fireplace to tent. They have to get higher ground either by going some 500 m towards tent or climbing to cedar.
5. They make preparations for signalling by torch. They cut off branches of the cedar so that climbing with torch is easier and they can be seen from the tent.
6. Yuri Doroshenko climb to cedar with torch. He needs both legs and hands to climb. How he carry burning stick of wood? By his mouth. Yuri get his hair burned from the torch. Yuri's saliva get dyed to gray from charred torch and his gray saliva drip to his cheek from open mouth (because the torch is between his teeth, so that he have both hands free to climb).
7. Yuri manage to climb cedar and torch is still burning. In the climbing he get bruises to his face, ears, nose and lips. Yuri waves torch to general direction of the tent and graps to cedar with only one hand. His grip starts to weaken due to cold. He wrap his right arm over to branch and got injuries to his right armpit. His grip is still weakening, so he decide to lock his right arm to branch by biting his numb right palm.
8. At last Yuri got answer from darkness by flashing light from the tent. Yuri's heroic task is done. He climb down to tree and they wait to regroup with their comrades.
9. Group from the tent decide to make quick rescue mission. Semyon Zolotaryov see the lights, take his camera and take pictures. Those tiny light dots in the pictures are actually torchlight from the cedar 1500 m away.
10. Tragic events unfold and the entire group perish.
11. 25 days between perish of the group and founding of the tent. Wild animals smell the food left on the tent and rip their way in and out (cuts from inside) of the tent. Dyatlov group did not cut the tent.